To Improve, Train with People Better than You

By Ryan Berry

When I go to my Indianapolis jiu jitsu classes at Marcello Monteiro’s BJJ Coach Academy for a variety of reasons.  It helps me fill the time in the evenings when I don’t have plans.  It is an incredible workout.  Coming home after an informative but hard 2 or 3 hours jiu jitsu training makes me feel good about myself, makes me feel tough.  But, I would be remiss if I didn’t also admit that I go there to improve.  Part of the motivating drive that keeps me focused, keeps me consistent, and protects me from burnout is the aspirations of moving up in rank as well as being able to wipe the mat with my peers.  To do that, I must have a competitive spirit, exceptional cardiovascular endurance, muscular and mental strength, and possibly most importantly I will need impeccable technique in the execution of my movements.

It is no secret that to rapidly improve at something you must compete against someone who is your superior in that endeavor.  It doesn’t matter if we are talking about basketball, sales, chess, poker, or anything else you can possibly think of, in order to increase your success level you must model yourself after successful people.  In the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu that means getting dominated by more experienced and higher ranked people than you.  It means getting tapped out, a lot.  It isn’t always fun.  It is, however, always learning experience and is also the fast track to success.  You have to pay your dues, you have to try things, and sometimes you have to learn them the hard way.  By rolling with someone who has more strength, endurance, skill, and experience than you it makes training with people on your own level a much easier match.

I am a white belt at Marcello's Indianapolis Jiu Jitsu school, which is the beginner level of the five belts in adult Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  People are generally at the white belt level for 1 to 2 years (possibly longer) before they move up to the next rank, that of blue belt.  The difference between white and blue belt is a pretty wide gulf.  I have heard it said that it is the largest gap between any of the two belts.  White belts are green.  They are learning things each day, but lack the necessary repetition needed to commit the lessons to a level of comfort.  Blue belts, by the time they reach that rank, generally have their cardio where they need it to be.  They have been in many situations in the sport and have a good “big picture” understanding of the overall game.  They know more jiu jitsu moves.  Sometimes, they get the opportunity to train against their next level up, the purple belts.  A blue belt doesn’t get defeated much by white belts, and shouldn’t, especially due to the integrity of Marcello’s Indianapolis Jiu Jitsu curriculum (which you can learn more about at http://www.bjjcoach.com .  What a blue generally gains from rolling with a white (in addition to the self-esteem boost, and the exercise) is the opportunity to coach, to teach.  In this way, they notice and focus on more details of the positions, becoming one step closer themselves to mastering the moves and moving up again.

Call me a glutton for punishment, but I prefer to roll with the blue belts.  They are more patient, more focused, more meticulous in their actions.  I don’t score many points against them but it teaches me a lot and toughens me up.  I feel that my progress is accelerated by getting demolished by them on a regular basis.  Then I’ll get paired up with someone more my own experience level and I’ll get to have a little fun of my own.  There is certainly a high price to improvement, but well worth it.

The Indianapolis Jiu Jitsu Coach Brand

By Ryan Berry
Indianapolis, IN

Back in the old west they used to have a saying, “we ride for the brand.”  It was a phrase used by and referring to cowboys.  It had to do with loyalty, commitment…and it was gravely serious.  In its literal sense the brand was the mark of a certain ranch and its ownership.  It was a symbol.  It could have been a circle with an X inside, for instance, or an upper case R.  These symbols would be formed on a metal stick, which would then be heated up red hot and burned into a steer, tagging it, marking it as part of the herd that the cowboys on the drive were responsible for.  In its figurative sense, to the cowboys it meant camaraderie.  It meant watching out for each other.  Not every cowboy on the cattle drive or on the payroll was always best friends, individually, but they always had each other’s backs.  They could count on each other to get the job that they signed on for done.  The phrase, riding for the brand, summarized the character of the men and the ideals that they lived up to.

At the Indianapolis Jiu Jitsu Coach Academy on Emerson Ave. in Indianapolis, Indiana, we student athletes ride for the brand as well.  In this case, as well as the case of the old west, the word ‘brand’ is a pun.  Professor Marcello Monteiro, owner of the Indianapolis school, has built quite a reputable brand (word used in the business sense) in the jiu jitsu world through hard work, strong leadership, and success in competitions.  His aggregate brand that he has built includes his home gym, his curriculums, associate academies across the country, and the extensive website www.bjjcoach.com as well as other things.  The Marcello Monteiro Brand of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is known worldwide and has developed Indianapolis Jiu Jitsu champions at all levels.

In the literal sense, Marcello’s BJJ Coach Academy has a brand as well.  It is posted all over the website that you are probably reading this on.  It is red and black, a circle with an ‘M’ above a triangle inside of it.  This brand is not burnt into the haunch of any animal; however it is permanently tattooed on several people’s bodies.  Permanently inked or not, what it does represent is held sacred by the people who have it embroidered into the shoulders and left breast of their gi.  It is the symbol of our BJJ lineage, our community, our commitment, and our efforts we have put forth within the sport.   

Not everyone who trains at Marcello’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Coach Gym are the best of friends individually either, similar to the cowboys.  But we have all signed on for a common good.  We learn together, sweat together, there is some inadvertent bruising and blood occasionally, but we are all there to stay in shape and improve our techniques.  The community of individuals there helps each other with those positive improvements.  It is a great Indianapolis Jiu Jitsu  team to be a part of.  It is safe to say that Marcello Monteiro has built a very strong brand, and much like the cowboys of the old west, we ride for it.


                              Our Indianapolis Jiu Jitsu Coach training after a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Seminar in West Virgina